The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it hopes that Taiwanese celebrities who reposted Chinese state media articles celebrating the National Day of the People’s Republic of China would consider public perceptions in Taiwan.
Yesterday, China’s National Day, several Taiwanese celebrities reposted articles from Chinese state media on their personal Sina Weibo profiles about the holiday, including Golden Horse Award-winning actor Wu Kang-ren (吳慷仁), Cyndi Wang (王心凌), Ouyang Didi (歐陽娣娣), Wang Leehom (王力宏) and others.
Artist Jam Hsiao (蕭敬騰) on Monday night performed in a National Day program on China Central Television, with the state media channel calling him an artist from “Taiwan, China.”
Photo: Tapei Times file and screen grab from Sina Weibo
Wu, who on Monday announced he had signed to a new Chinese management company, yesterday reposted a message from the state-run People’s Daily on his Sina Weibo account, adding: “Congratulations to Beautiful China.”
The MAC said in a statement that although entertainers and celebrities might feel pressure from the Chinese Communist Party to make political statements around holidays, it hoped that they would consider public sentiment in Taiwan and appreciate the nation’s hard-won democratic freedoms.
Separately, the council yesterday again asked Taiwanese to be cautious when traveling to China, Hong Kong or Macau, after two people were sentenced to prison under Hong Kong’s National Security Law.
Hong Konger Chiu Kai-pong (諸啟邦), 27, was sentenced to 14 months on Sept. 16 for “performing acts with seditious intent” for wearing a T-shirt with the words “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times” and a yellow mask with the letters “FDNOL,” short for “five demands, not one less” on June 12, the anniversary of clashes between police and protesters during 2019’s democracy protests.
Chung Man-kit (鍾文傑), 29, was sentenced to 10 months for writing “seditious” graffiti on bus seats.
The MAC said it wished to remind Taiwanese that as of June, a travel advisory for China, Hong Kong and Macau was elevated to “orange,” its second-highest alert.
The council’s Web site has up-to-date information on what might be considered a crime that could lead to prosecution in China, as well as other travel advisories, it said.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
RSS